Baby Clarisse loves “In The Night Garden” series. My husband even downloaded the entire series, 50 episodes in all, for her to watch. And we’ve been trying to find the toys in our local shopping mall to no avail. We planned to look for it in KL the next time we go. So we were delighted to see our local shopping mall brought in the Night Garden characters plush toys.

We hang around that particular toy section for more than 15 minutes. Baby Clarisse appears to be particularly fond of Iggle-Piggle. We let her choose between a few – IgglePiggle, Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka. In the end we ended up buying Iggle Piggle because out of them plush toys, Baby Clarisse kept going for and hug Iggle Piggle. She even kisses him. It was an easy and obvious choice. The one we bought make sounds when pressed in the tummy. There is a bigger Iggle Piggle available that cost more than double and it talks, dance, move it’s arms and blinks but it’s simply too expensive.

It is a battery-operated play bench toy set which has several canisters on top. And inside these canisters there are components that bounces up and down, swirling balls, spinning flaps and make funny sounds. Needless to say, baby Clarisse loves it. Especially the colours and sound it makes. But she doesn’t really know how to work those buttons yet. Instead she would take them canisters apart and knock them around.

Yesterday, my baby Clarisse got one heck of a hand-me-down toy. It’s a Fisher-Price Infant to Toddler Rocker given to us by my husband’s aunt. It belongs to her grandchildren who have outgrown the rocker. Pretty good condition for a 3 year old baby rocker.

But parents should be wary when your toddler is big enough to sit up and lean forward. Babies might tip the rocker to fall over if she leans forward far enough.

My husband and I have been holding off buying a new video player for quite some time now. We’ve been observing the movie industry and the fight between the next generation of high definition DVD formats: Sony’s Blu-Ray vs Toshiba’s HD-DVD formats. Although the format war has been tipped towards Sony’s Blu-Ray favour, Warner Bros Entertainment Group recently revealed that they will be ditching HD-DVD in favour of Blu-Ray. Needless to say, Warner Bros’ decision is a major blow to Toshiba’s HD-DVD format and pretty much confirms Blu-Ray DVDs will be the format of the future. Warner Bros switch effectively puts more than 70% of Hollywood’s products on Blu-ray.

So if you’re wondering buying a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player soon, I think I can safely suggest Blu-Ray is the way to go. Here’s an idea for your kid’s birthday present: Sony PlayStation 3. It can play Blu-Ray DVDs too

3 days ago, baby Clarisse grabbed hold of a soft toy in Tesco, played with it for a while and when we tried to take it away from her, she cried. It happened again today, when the waiter took away the menu she had her hands on, baby Clarisse threw a mild tantrum. And lately, whenever it’s time to get out of the bathtub, which happens to be her favourite time of the day, baby Clarisse would frown and cry.

I’ve heard from friends and family that it’s just a phase. Babies at 6 months and above is mature enough to understand the contentment and joy derived from possessing material objects or doing something fun. It’s a common milestone for developing babies but I’ve seen kids no younger than 5 years old throwing fits whenever parents refused to buy what they want, usually toys. Or when it’s time to leave the playground. Still consider that a normal passing phase in toddler’s behaviour?

It’s tough when baby Clarisse fusses whenever things doesn’t go her way. But I can’t give in to her whims and fancies all the time. That will certainly make things worst. Can’t have a 3-year-old thinking she’s gonna get her way everytime she throws a tantrum can we?

Sign up for emailing lists to get yourself informed of the latest toy recalls at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Another good site for such information is U.S. PIRG.

When you happen to own toys that are being recalled, take it away immediately. Then, make sure you wipe and clean every toy that has come in contact with the recalled product.

Read the label. But be aware that parents could never be sure the toys they buy are free from harmful chemicals. Even toys labelled non-toxic are found to contain chemicals like lead, bisphenol A or phthalates, according to scientically done tests.

Generally, painted toys manufactured in China are more likely to contain lead than those made in the US. Then again, huge number of toys are manufactured in China and exported worldwide. In the US alone, more than 80% of toys sold are manufactured in China. Toy companies in the US could easily outsource parts to be manufactured in China, shipped to the US, assemble it in-house and call it ‘Made in USA’. Therefore, good luck trying to avoid China-made toys. It won’t be easy.

Cross PVC plastic toys out of the list. Plastic toys are almost always made of poly vinyl chloride (PVC). Especially cheap plastic toys from vending machines, fake or even real metal jewellery set which are often found coated in lead paint.

Phthalates can be found in softer plastic. It is a chemical used to soften plastics during manufacturing. It could leak out when mouthed by infants and gets absorbed into the bloodstream. Phthalates could cause liver and kidney damage, endocrine disruption, reproductive system damage and in some cases, cancer. Babies and children, with their bodies still developing are particularly at risks. Lead and cadmium is found to be used in plastic materials.

Go for plastic toys from reputable retailer and brands. lego, Toys R’Us and IKEA are among toy manufacturers and retailers who have committed to sell phthalates-free plastic products.

There are however members of my family who thinks I’m being overly cautious. But it’s one of those things where it’s better to be safe than sorry. There’s nothing wrong in having a heightened level of awareness of toy safety. Even reputable toy makers – Mattel, Fisher-Price for instance – are recalling some of their toys. Would you dare imagine the level of quality from toys made by bottom rung manufacturers. There are major scientific studies done all over the world on toy safety, and personally, I think we should be more concerned for the sake of our children’s health and safety.

Recent toy recalls has all been about dangerous lead contents. Ideally, toys should not contain lead at all. There is no standard lead level that is considered safe for children or adults. That level should be zero. Parents should only buy toys are are labelled non-toxic.

You might think that the government is in-charge of monitoring safe manufacturing practises for it’s citizens. Some countries have less stringent lead safety standards than some. If you’re in some third world or developing countries, you should be concerned. But that is all in the past. With countries including the US recalling toys due to lead toxicity levels concern right now, everyone should be aware of toy safety no matter where you live.

Lead exposure in toddlers could have detrimental effects on brain development. Even very low levels of lead exposure will have an impact on the brain which could cause developmental delays. Lead is also toxic to the kidneys and blood.

What makes it worst is lead exposure shows no symptoms at all. Damage to brain development is very likely to occur at levels of lead exposure which does not show any symptoms yet. Symptoms will only show when lead exposure reaches unusually high levels. Toddlers could develop head aches, anaemia or gastrointestinal pains.

Realising the adverse impact of lead exposure, parents are also advised to keep an eye on products within the reach of babies which are not toys. Your baby could be chewing away at lead contaminated booster seat buckles. That can of fruit juice might contain hazardous levels of lead in the solder. Or lead used in coloring in a candies. In fact, more children are reportedly harmed by other causes than lead paint in toys. Spare a thought for things which are beyond the category of baby toys.